The Vitus Venon in the TOUR test
Vitus was once a beacon of the French bicycle industry; the company began as a manufacturer of steel tubes and supplied a number of French bicycle brands. However, the brand became famous for its then unrivalled lightweight frames made of aluminium and carbon tubes, which were glued into aluminium sockets with epoxy resin: In the 1970s, the company pioneered the use of new materials in bicycle construction.
The bikes became legendary thanks in part to the Irish professional cyclist Sean Kelly, who won a number of classic victories on Vitus carbon racers in the 1980s. The breakthrough of the monocoque construction method for carbon frames was followed by its commercial demise until the brand was revived in 2009 by the British mail order company Chain Reaction (now Wiggle). Recently, Vitus bikes have also been sold byfahrrad.de - making them increasingly interesting for German customers too.
Vitus Venon - Equipped for almost anything
The Venon is the latest new model and a kind of hybrid between an endurance and gravel bike. Our test bike comes with 28 millimetre wide road tyres; however, the frame and fork leave enough space for up to 45 millimetre wide off-road tyres, and corresponding equipment variants are being planned. Mounts for mudguards are also planned: There are hidden threads near the wheel hubs and a removable bridge sits between the seat stays, to which the rear mudguard can be solidly attached.
This still allows 35 millimetre wide tyres to fit underneath. Different positions for the bottle cages create space for frame bags if required. In theory, the bike can be adapted to a wide variety of uses with little effort.
Not without compromise
The design of the Vitus Venon looks modern and as if from a single mould. Even for less experienced mechanics, the Venon is not too complicated to set up. The cables at the front are integrated using mass-produced parts from FSA, and the brake lines run into the frame under a cover on the underside of the stem. The stem and handlebars can therefore be replaced with reasonable effort and spare parts are relatively easily available. The seat tube contains a classic round seatpost with standard dimensions.
When riding, it becomes clear that the approach of combining road and off-road capabilities does not work entirely without compromise on this bike either. Because the steering behaviour depends on the tyre width (or rather tyre height), the handling changes depending on the tyres selected.
With its comparatively narrow 28-millimetre tyres, the Vitus Venom tends to want to ride stoically straight ahead most of the time, only to tip over into the bend by itself at a certain point during sharp steering manoeuvres. On the other hand, straight-ahead riding might feel a little nervous with the wide tyres. You can certainly get used to both variants, but the bike is probably most balanced with slightly wider tyres of around 35 millimetres.
Imprecise steering behaviour
The riding position on the bike is quite sporty for this category. On poor surfaces, at least the carbon seatpost offers decent suspension, but the fork can barely filter out vibrations. This is also confirmed by our measurements in the TOUR lab, where carbon forks unfortunately perform poorly for the most part. This also reveals a weakness that is unusual for modern carbon frames: the frame stiffness in the steering head - with an average frame weight - is below today's possibilities and roughly at the level of classic steel frames.
On the road, this manifests itself in somewhat doughy and imprecise steering behaviour, especially at high speeds. Tall and heavy riders in particular should be aware of this, as it affects them more than lighter riders or smaller frame sizes. However, if you can cope with this, the Venon may be the one bike that can replace several: With minor compromises and a few modifications, it can be used for a marathon as well as for off-road excursions or a bike tour with luggage and mudguards.
Our test bike with electronic SRAM Force drivetrain and carbon rims is expected to cost €5,800; a version with the heavier SRAM Rival will cost around €5,000. Variants with the GRX gravel groupset from Shimano and the 105 Di2 road groupset are also planned, but the equipment details and prices for these had not yet been finalised at the time of going to press.
Vitus Venon in detail
- Price: 5800 Euro
- Weight frame/fork/steering bearing* 1233/523/87 grammes
- Frame sizes** XXS, XS, S, M, L, XL
- Seat/top tube/head tube 500/550/133 millimetres
- Stack/Reach/STR*** 562/384 millimetres/1.46
Equipment
- Drive/gearshift/brakes SRAM Force AXS (46/33, 10-33 t.)
- Wheels/tyres (weights)**** Prime Primavera 44/Michelin Power Cup 28 mm (1207/1624 grams)
Measured values & individual notes*****
- Weight of complete wheel 8.0 kilos Grade: 3,0
- Steering head stiffness 73 Nm/° Grade: 3,7
- Lateral stiffness fork 60 N/mm Grade: 1,0
- Bottom bracket stiffness 52 N/mm Grade: 2,3
- Seatpost spring stiffness 104 N/mm Grade: 1,7
- Spring rate fork 110 N/mm Grade: 5,0
>> The Vitus Venon receives an overall TOUR score of 2.3
*Weighed weights.
**Manufacturer information Test size bold.
***Stack/Reach Projected vertical/horizontal dimension from the centre of the bottom bracket to the top of the head tube;
STR (Stack to Reach) 1.36 means a very stretched sitting position, 1.60 means an upright sitting position.
****Impeller weights including tyres, cassette, quick release/threaded axles and brake discs if necessary.
*****Single notes, which are weighted differently in the overall grade, are only partially printed for reasons of space. The grades are calculated with all decimal places up to the final grade; however, for the sake of clarity, all grades are shown with rounded decimal places.
Jens Klötzer
Editor
